In the End
by KittyKatz
Summary: In real life, you can't expect things to go the way you want them to go, or the way they should have gone. Life's not a fairytale and should not be treated as such. A different ending...


Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha

AN: um… I'm looking back over this right now with an empty stomach that hasn't seen breakfast or lunch despite it being 4 in the afternoon… IT MAKES NO SENSE TO ME! Lol, oh well, I'm gonna edit then post it but first, a brief explanation:

Right, I've been playing with this idea for a little while. I was hoping to write a little ending thing for the series where nothing ends the way it's supposed to, but still turns out alright, just more realistically, I guess… cuz I mean it IS a slight stretch for all of the gang to survive and get everything they want… though I'm 100 percent sure I'm gonna get flamed for this specially cuz even I don't like stories where the ending isn't the way u want in as far as the happily ever after thing goes… but yeah wutever, "I TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU!" XD I was just experimenting here.

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In the End…

By Kitty

_Life's a cycle without an end,_

_With new surprises around each bend._

_A bit of good, a bit of bad._

_With lots of joy, and a little sad._

Not everything goes the way you want it. Life doesn't listen to your requests; Fate doesn't grant your whims. Accept what is given to you, don't grieve over what might have been. Time will always tick and the only direction to go is always forward.

It's been a very long time since my adventures through the well. So many things have happened and I know I will never be the same. But I'm just one person. Though I can be the difference between a world of good or a world of evil, I have no more right to expect my life to be the way that I want it to be than the people whose lives I've altered.

By now, in the last chapter of my journey between times, you've probably wondered how everything ends. Does the outcast hero vanquish the villain? Does the demon slayer reunite with her beloved brother? Does the cursed monk ever free himself of his grim fate? Does true love eventually find its way to our heroes and heroines?

Now that I've come to this portion of my story, I find the truth so hard to tell. I wish I could break off from reality and tell you a splendid tale of a quest ended in triumph and glory, where the happily ever after could have been predicted since the very beginning.

But this is a not a fairytale. It is not fantasy. It is only a story that ends like so many other stories, in the birth of new and sometimes unexpected tales yet to be told.

Inuyasha, my love and protector, lost his battle with Naraku.

Naraku, in his wickedness, discovered Inuyasha's true weakness, not in his hanyou blood, but in the aching guilt and lingering love he continued to bear for Kikyou. I can still recall with frightening vividness, the blackness of his tentacles as they wrapped around the weakened priestess and absorbed her into his flesh. Many believed Kikyou to be safe from Naraku, because of Onigumo. But in a twisted mind, right and wrong have no meaning, and when Naraku convinced Onigumo that the only way to truly possess Kikyou was to become of one flesh, how was any love sick, black hearted man to refuse? My hanyou was rendered powerless to Naraku, and spent the rest of his days running from him, his worst adversary and most treasured romance. Some called him a coward, telling him the only way to save Kikyou was to kill Naraku and her with him. But Inuyasha simply couldn't bear to kill the woman he'd loved so much for so long, after pledging him own life to her. He wandered the lands desperately trying to discover a way to separate Kikyou from Naraku, until finally one day, his older brother found him, despondent and lost, the iron willed spirit finally broken. I remember finding the two of them, not far from the Goshinboku. The wind carried my scent away and though I was far from the area enough to deny view through my physical eyes, my own powers were enough to peek into the only display of brotherly affection I'd seen from the cold-hearted elder brother. It was euthanasia, I believe. But nevertheless, my heart broke.

I ran away, for the first time, knowing I could not return to the side of the man I'd sworn myself to. The other side of the well was an unexpected sanctuary. For days, I cried out my grief and anger. Regret was perhaps the biggest sorrow I had to overcome. I never told him my true feelings. I never told him what really happened the day Kikyou was taken into Naraku's body.

Was I wrong? To keep this part hidden inside me? That when Naraku took Kikyou, he took nothing more that a corpse of dirt and ashes. When I felt Kikyou's portion of my soul return, I felt such a burning sense of hatred to all things. It was more than I could handle all at once. I returned to my own home to deal with the pain and agony of Kikyou's heart. And when I conquered that pain and returned at last to seek him out, I only found myself too late. So tell me then, was it my own fault?

Running home a second time and turning back from the responsibility of continuing the quest without Inuyasha was the worst mistake I made after his death. Yet it was the only thing that kept me sane. With family and friends in an innocent world that knew nothing of the sorrows of my life in feudal Japan, I was able to heal. I found comfort in familiar and caring souls and the knowledge that at least in my time, I was safe.

My daughter often asks me why it is I spend so much time in the attic, looking at the dusty old relics from ancient history. What am I supposed to tell her? Do I tell her of the horrors each relic reminds me of, as well as the peace of mind they give me, telling me I wasn't dreaming and that I hadn't lost my mind. Did I truly live through such a time?

If Shippou, my little fox friend, hadn't searched me out in my time, I never would have gone back to finish my duty. What I came back to nearly broke my heart for the second time. In my three years absence from the feudal era, Miroku had perished from his curse, and Sango's brother, saved from Naraku was beginning a family and nursing his wounded heart from the knowledge of killing his own sister. I found myself finishing this journey nearly on my own. How did I survive? You might ask that knowing that I was only a young college student at the time, who knew nothing of the martial arts necessary in fighting off the evil that plagued us for so long.

Am I going to fast? I'm sorry if it seems as if I'm rushing but this portion of the story is always fresh and painful whenever I think of it. No matter how many years I put between then and now, I still can remember the horrifying grip on my chest as I grieved for my lost friends and love.

Shippou was there, true, three years made quite a difference on him. The tragedies in his early life hindered him little as he grew up, and because he had no real connection with Naraku, he never received any further attention from the demon. I, however, was an object of great concern to him. With young adolescent Shippou at my back, and growing determination to finally capture Naraku, it was Kikyou who truly brought about the end. With her bones in Naraku's body, I was able to quickly hone in on his hideaway, and as luck would have it, on a night of the new moon, and his own chosen day of weakness.

Perhaps it was a bit low, to take advantage like that, however, after the things he caused, the pain he wrecked on so many, I felt little guilt in slaying him that night. I was lucky, unnervingly lucky.

I suppose you also wonder what my wish was that purified the Shikon no Tama. I will be frank, there was no such purity in my heart for such a task. My soul was so tattered and bitter from all the pain and death that the duty fell into the hands of a little girl whose kind and innocent heart far outweighed the suffering on her life. Rin's wish was for all the souls who've fought and died in the course of history to rest in peace, and, for all the lives that continue to battle through life, happiness.

So now you know all of our fates. Inuyasha's tragic death, Sango's and Kohaku's sad story, Miroku's air void (taking him too early to even allow him to birth an heir). Shippou found himself a lovely vixen to start a family with and he grew into a very powerful fox demon, eventually befriending Rin, and through her became business partners with Sesshomaru.

I recently learned the unmarked graves behind my old family shrine belonged to people I knew and loved. Yes, Keade and Rin. Sango and Kohaku were also buried together there. Miroku's only object that escaped the air void was his staff, which I keep in the attic, along with Sango's Hiraikostu and Kohaku's sickle. Sesshomaru took the Tetsaiga but allowed me to take Inuyasha's fire rat yukata and beaded necklace. I wear that necklace everywhere now. The red robes of his are alive, and have never lost its scent. On lonely nights I used to use it as a blanket, his warmth never seems to leave.

Forgive me if I leave you with too many questions left unanswered but I can take no more of this! The river will never pause and wait for a single drop to catch up with the rest of current. I could not hideaway from life and remain trapped in this nightmare of death and ruin.

Earlier I mentioned a daughter. I suppose you are wondering how that came about. As I said in the beginning of this chapter, the only direction to move is forward. I did eventually marry, and no, it wasn't Hojo. I carried on as a typical girl in modern day Tokyo. I went to college, majored in history and became a teacher at the university. In my spare time I volunteer in animal rescue societies where I could put my herbal and healing talents to work. I especially like to work with the rescued dogs. Their blood reminds me of his. But yes, to continue about my daughter. In college, I met a young history professor just like me and we became fast friends. I have yet to test his faith in me and my sanity with the full of my life story. I have a feeling no one will ever believe my story. But we are a happy family; I do love him, though perhaps not to the intensity that I loved as a teenager. We have a daughter and a son. We've named her Sango, and I forcefully had my way in the naming of our son.

Inuyasha

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Anyway, so it ended up as a narrative cuz I felt that might be the best way to convey it all. Also, I killed everyone off first of all, because I seriously found it unbelievable that Inuyasha could survive ALL the junk in the series and still wind up on top, I mean, he's rash, undisciplined, reckless, and compared to his brother and Naraku, not all that strong. I mean he does beat everybody's butt; it's just look at the odds then tell me Inuyasha doesn't need at least some real background in martial arts OTHER than blindly swinging that sword around like a baseball bat. (Ok, if you haven't figured, I'm slightly disappointed by his lack of fancy and numerous kick butt techniques) I still luv inu tho! In my Chappie stories, don't worry, he'll always get the pie!

Um… lets see… oh yeah, I guess the second thing I'll get flamed for the most would prolly be kagome's marriage to the history professor dude who shall remain nameless b/c he's not important enough for this story to have a name. the point of him is to state that despite everything that happened, Kagome's still moving on and living a normal life. She's definitely scarred, but its either move on or ending up in either suicide or a mental institute (in my opinion anyways…) hmm… this whole shpeel gives too much away… I'm gonna stick this at the end… I hope ppl don't get to mad at me for this… just please keep in mind before reviewing that THIS IS AN EXPERIMENT!

helpful criticism would be extremely nice! i'm gonna use reviews to edit then i'll repost so if there's anything you'd like to share about my writing, the style, the idea, the flow, the way i wrote this etc, please feel free to criticize (tho please be nice XD)


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